The Arakan Army (AA) has seized Rakhine State’s Ponnagyun town after defeating the military junta’s 550th Infantry Battalion in the battle for the town on Monday, the ethnic armed organization said.
Ponnagyun is just 33 km northeast of the state capital Sittwe, which is currently surrounded by AA forces, a Sittwe resident said.
During the battle for Ponnagyun, junta fighter jets and naval vessels bombed and shelled the AA’s forces on numerous occasions in an attempt to defend the town, the AA said.
After Ponnagyun fell, regime fighter jets destroyed the Zay Ti Pyin Bridge connecting Ponnagyun and Rathedaung, bombing it 12 times at around at 5 p.m. on Monday.
As of Tuesday, the junta’s military has lost eight towns to the AA—including Paletwa in Chin State—in addition to numerous major bases and outposts, as well as several naval vessels, in a string of serious military defeats since the armed group launched a major offensive on Nov. 13.
The AA will continue to fight until all of Rakhine is liberated and the military regime is ousted from the state, U Khaing Thukha, spokesperson of the AA, said at an online press conference on Monday.
The Brotherhood Alliance of three ethnic armies including the AA halted their major offensive in northern Shan State in January as part of a China-brokered ceasefire agreement with the military regime, but the truce does not apply to Rakhine State and the AA will continue fighting against the dictatorship, Brigadier General Dr. Nyo Tun Aung, deputy commander of the AA, said at Monday’s conference.
“Currently, according to the Haigeng agreement, the ceasefire is maintained in northern Shan State alone. [At the China-brokered talks] we discussed China-Myanmar border trade, online scams, and stability of border areas in northern Shan State, but not a ceasefire in Rakhine State,” Dr. Nyo Tun Aung said.
The capture of Ponnagyun allows the AA to threaten Sittwe. The state capital is just 45 minutes’ drive from Ponnagyun and the AA will be able to target the junta’s bases there with artillery seized from regime forces, a military analyst told The Irrawaddy.
“It’s close to Sittwe. Military bases in Sittwe can be hit by shells fired from Ponnagyun. So far, the AA has won battles in Rakhine State but, for now, that doesn’t mean they have the ability to seize the whole state yet, as there are other military bases in other parts of the state,” he added.
Sittwe is the seat of the junta’s administration in Rakhine and home to the military’s Western Command.
Meanwhile, most residents of the capital are stuck there as junta troops have blocked all roads and waterways, with air travel currently the only way out. This is in contrast to the eight towns under the control of the AA, where civilians have freedom of movement and can access trade routes to Chin State’s Paletwa Township and the Bangladesh border, the analyst said.
The fall of Ponnagyun poses a direct threat to junta forces based in Sittwe and to those guarding the routes to Sittwe and Rathedaung. Capturing Ponnagyun is seen as a key step toward achieving the AA’s goal of entering Sittwe, said Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) soldier Zin Yaw.
In the wake of the serious defeats they have suffered in Rakhine, regime forces have been targeting civilians and committing atrocities across the state.
According to data from the AA’s Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office (HDCO), attacks by junta soldiers have caused 468 civilian casualties—111 people killed and 357 injured—and left 268,731 people as internally displaced person (IDPs) since the AA’s offensive in the state was launched on Nov. 13.
